Jan 18, 2013

25 Royal Rumble Facts

By Ben York
Posted: Jan. 18, 2013

As fans of the WWE know, the Royal Rumble is the ultimate test of endurance and survival. For 25 years, each Superstar's main goal has been to launch their opponents over the rope. As if that wasn't difficult enough, another Superstar enters the ring every 90 seconds until only one person is left standing.

Alliances are forgotten. Friendships are thrown to the wayside. Why? It's simple, actually -- the victor earns a ticket to WrestleMania 29 to compete for a World Title of their choosing.

With the 26th annual Royal Rumble Match just over one week away at US Airways Center, WWE.com takes a look back through the previous 25 Rumbles with some stone-cold stats you can "sink your teeth into."

"The first-ever Royal Rumble Match set a precedent in WWE history for what all-out chaos could become. Twenty WWE Superstars vied for supremacy, but only one could remain inside the ring victorious. WWE Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan outlasted the field to have his name etched in WWE history as the first Royal Rumble Match winner."

"The Royal Rumble Match is the perfect setting for The Texas Rattlesnake and his “don’t trust anybody” motto in the every-man-for-himself environment. In 1997, Austin took advantage of distracted officials to dump Bret “Hit Man” Hart over the top rope and win the Rumble match. The following year, the WWE Hall of Famer eliminated The Great One, The Rock, for the victory. To top it all off, to achieve his 2001 Royal Rumble win, “Stone Cold” ended Kane’s record-setting run of 11 eliminations, throwing out The Big Red Monster to get his WWE Championship Match at WrestleMania."

"The Royal Rumble is the perfect environment for a Superstar like Kane, who thrives on carnage. In the 2001 Royal Rumble Match, The Big Red Monster was the creator of much of the night’s havoc. As the No. 6 entrant,The Devil’s Favorite Demon tore through the competition, leaving a trail of destruction in his path. Kane set a record that night, eliminating 11 Superstars, including the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time, The Honky Tony Man and The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment, The Rock. Though Kane did not win the Rumble that night, his record still stands to this day."

"The 2011 Rumble Match was historic for a number of reasons, but first and foremost was the number of entrants increased by 10: For the first time, 40 Superstars brawled it out for a spot at WrestleMania, making the bout even more unpredictable than it already was."